Evaluation of hand sanitation procedures using Germ Glo
Properly sanitizing hands is crucial to prevent disease transmission. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of different hand sanitation procedures through the use of Glo Germ, a substance designed to simulate the spread of germs We evaluated five hand washing procedures including: a) washing of hands with water only, b) washing with antibacterial soap and water, c) washing with bacdown soap and water, d) removing gloves following a protocol directed at minimizing self-contamination and, e) removing gloves by mimicking real life farm conditions without following a specific protocol. Four study participants assisted in the hand washing procedures for a total of 6 hand washing replicates for the only water and the antibacterial soap & water groups (3 replicates were followed for the rest of the groups). Approximately 1 ml of Germ Glo was applied on the hands of participants. Participants were asked to wash hands following one of the treatments assigned to them as specified above. Hands were inspected with flashlight capable of revealing the presence of Germ Glo before and after the hand sanitation procedure and the amount of Germ Glo left on the hands was quantified by counting the number of areas that revealed presence of Germ Glo. Results show a significant reduction before and after hand sanitation protocols for all the treatment groups (p<0.05). There were also differences in the effectiveness of removing glo germ based on the side of the hand for the antibacterial soap & water, the bacdown soap & water, and the only water treatments (p<0.05) with the right back of the hand having a consistently higher glo germ present. This study reveals the importance of using appropriate hand washing procedures to minimize the risk of indirect transmission and the results will be used to determine protocols for a future research directed at evaluating which hand washing procedures are most effective at decreasing influenza in contaminated hands.